It's Good For the Soul

This week has been filled with tough images, huh?  Distraught faces, grieving faces, angry faces.  And there is just no making sense of all this.  I do not understand how a 19-year old could be filled with such hatred, a total disregard to life.

It makes one think about this world we live in.  Is evil taking over?  Is the bad bigger than the good?  And I know it's not.  I know there is so much more good in this world than bad. I know there is more joy than sadness.  I know love wins in the end.

Watching the city of Boston respond reminds me that people are good.  Two evil people don't change that.  

Alex is traveling to Boston in less than two weeks.  I'm THANKFUL he is not there now.  I would be a wreck.  I'll be watching intently as the next week plays out, to see how that city goes back to being Boston, I'm sure growing more confident each day that it's safe to send my son there.

And in the midst of all this, it's simply good to laugh.  This situation is rattling, and shows us how quickly our "normal" be rocked.  But with our normal in tact, laughter is part of a healthy day.  

I saw this video this morning.  I hadn't seen it in so long, but it hasn't lost any of it's sweetness.  There's something so joyfully pure about this little guy's laughter.  Love the way he's absolutely absorbed in the moment, not a care in the world, just total innocence and lovin' life!

I think we could all use some joyful laughter.  It's good for our soul...

I'm Sorry To Say...It's A List!

And it's a pictureless list at that!  I've put myself on a seclusion plan, trying to spare the 3 in my family that haven't had this sickness.  While in seclusion, I have just my iPad and still cannot figure out how to post pictures when using it.  Oh well.  

1.  This inconvenient crud has worn out its welcome.  Not any big deal in the big picture, just a nuisance.  I missed a day and a half of work this week, my first time using sick leave.  But when I got very woozy at work, and every piece of my body, inside and out from my head to my toes, started aching, I submitted to the fact that I may indeed be ill. So I popped into the health room and took my temp...100.9.  My cooperative co-workers were oh-so-eagerly-helpful in getting my germs out of there.  My temp climbed throughout the day and I was mis.er.ab.le.  The next day I got up and showered and ready to go before realizing it was just a stupid idea. My aching head throbbed with each cough.  My eyeballs were so sore I couldn't look left or right or up or down.  I could go on, but I will stop.  Headache, body aches, fever all gone.  Now it's no voice, deep chest cough and extreme fatigue.  My big adventure today was taking a shower.  And after the shower I broke into a profuse sweat and took a nap.  Pathetic.

2.  And speaking of fevers and patheticness...fevers and sleeping produce some very bizarre dreams!  After I made a comment about that on Facebook, one of Brad's friends gave that phenomenon the name "fleeping".  Isn't that perfect?  So I shall forevermore call it fleeping.  I fleeped all about monkeys and penguins and racecars and all sorts of strange combinations.  I wish I could remember all the details after I wake up, because my goodness would they make some entertaining stories.  But, alas, the fleeping is a fleeting moment.

3. I'm in love with Rice Krispy Treats.

4.  My firstborn graduates from high school two months from today.  That makes me feel so old.  It also makes me feel a bit muddled-in-the-mind about all there is to do.  Getting him moved to Baltimore is going to be a bit overwhelming and quite a whirlwind.  The recording engineering director called him this last week, just to personally congratulate him and tell him how excited they are to have him.  Told him in all his years of interviews, he was the most obvious candidate for this program he's ever interviewed.  This man has no idea how much that comforts my momma heart.  It makes the anticipation of sending him across the country easier, knowing that he's going to a place where he's enthusiastically welcomed and personally known.  Feels good.

5.  Also making me feel old is my baby of the bunch.  Last night she was watching Knight Rider with her dad, as show I never watched as a kid.  I have a hard time not making remarks about how ridiculous certain things are (like the whole talking car part..really?!). I made a comment last night about something that was implausible, and she said, "MOM, you need to remember this was made all the way back in the 1900s!"  Touche!  Score one for the baby girl.

6.  I love having the windows open and listening to this Spring rain!  Love it.  Clean and refreshing, making everything grow and bloom and brighten.

10.  Now I'm worn out and need a nap.  I wish I was kidding.

Let's Get Caught-Up!

Okay, I have really crossed over into a new level of ridiculousness.  I refuse to let a month - A MONTH! - go by without getting something on here.  So here we go with a messy compilation of all sorts of things:

1.  Beth is off and running with soccer this season. 

The last time she played she was only five, and the coach made the mistake decision to play her at goalie for half a game.  For the rest of the season, no matter where she was on the field, she would pick the ball up whenever it came near her.  Kind of a no-no in soccer.  So when she announced this year that she wanted to play on her friend's team, I had no idea what to expect.  I've been delightfully surprised ~ my first to really take to the sport, and I'm so happy to have a reason to watch soccer again.  I love this game so much.  They've only had one practice game so far, but I love it.  (And she happens to be #17, which was my number.  Love that.) (And I'm happy to report that she hasn't picked the ball up once in the field!)

2.  Brenna's track season is in full swing.  And this girl is running like a champ!  Her season goal was to get her mile time under 6 minutes, and she did that in her second meet: 

5:51!  Whoooosh, there she went.  I'm so proud of her dedication and hard work.  She and Brad have become running partners on the weekends, going out for 8 mile runs together.  Brenna chats the entire run, filling her dad in on everything in her life and entertaining him the entire run.

Alex, congratulating Brenna on her 5:51 mile!

3.  Beth had her first experience in front of a music adjudicator, playing a clarinet duet with her sweet friend Caleigh. 

They did a lovely job, and it was fun to see the third bring in the music compliments.  They scored a 1, and very deserved!

4.  My sweet hubs took a punch to the gut when he was told his job is being reduced 10% primarily due to the health care reimbursement rates with the new health care system.  Same job duties, but 10% fewer hours and 10% less pay.  Blech.  Crummy time to go through that with the first heading off to college soon.  He is doing a lot of soul searching as he decides what to do.  He's taken this hard, and the pressure he's feeling has been hard to watch.  I love him and how hard he works for our family, and looking forward to this all being settled.

5.  I am loooooving our sweet Spring weather.  The weather has been....gentle.  Perfect for outside playing and working.  We've been doing a lot of walking around the lake, especially as Brad has needed to do a lot of processing and thinking and talking.
Lucy loves going to the lake and smelling and the smells.  She's a great little walking buddy, and we are just about ready to start letting her run with Brenna.

6.  And the excruciating wait is over, we know now where Alex will be headed next year:

The beautiful Peabody library...he's in awe!

He made it into his #1 pick, his dream, his hope, his prayer.  He will be headed to The Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  He was accepted (with a generous scholarship to make it possible) to a dual-degree program in bassoon performance and recording engineering.  He'll take all his music classes at Peabody, and all his engineering at Johns Hopkins.  They loved him, and I can't blame them one bit.  I'm so proud of him, so happy for him...just a little stunned that my baby boy will be moving across the country to Baltimore.  Eek.  Now he is busy applying for as many local scholarships as he can.  Eek again!

7.  Music mania has abounded here still.  Alex won the Tacoma Concert Band Scholarship, which included a solo performance with this band.  It was a fun night to watch him on stage, playing with the big boys (and girls).  It was especially moving because two days prior his band director of the last 4 years committed suicide.  Ugly, tough time.  And an emotional time for sure, to get up and play in front of people.  The following week he also played at this man's memorial service, and played about as beautifully as I have ever heard him play.  It was all heart.

8.  And so long ago I mentioned my pursuit to take off my unwanted weight and reduce my cholesterol.  I'm happy to say that weight is gone and my cholesterol is way down, thanks to a lot of work and the help of some meds.  So glad I'm over that hurdle.

9.  Easter was a delightfully beautiful day here.  Loved the sunshine and 'twas a great way to kick off Spring Break! 

Some nice days let me get a gob of yard clean-up done, weeding and replanting and transplanting.  So much more to do, but fortunately the rain came storming in today so I get a break.  I woke up today sore in strange places from all the digging and bending, and my workout today felt terrible.  I'm pretty glad I have a good reason to not be out there weeding!

10.  I'd really like to end on a nice, round number like 10.  But I really don't want to think anymore.  I'm on vacation, and thinking is not on my vacation agenda.  So I will leave with this, because with all the ups and downs of the last month or so, indeed the Lord has been so good to us.  We are filled with joy, and thankful: